participation

People have different preferences and reasons for choosing to participate in sport and their choice is influenced by a number of factors including:

• age
• gender
• ethnicity
• disability
• socio-economic status

Only some factors have an element of choice. For example, individuals can choose their friends, but other factors are not, such as gender or age.

Some factors may change over time. Everyone gets older or someone who was non-disabled may develop a disability later in life.

Some factors are beyond an individual's control. People cannot change their ethnicity and children cannot choose their family background.

Ageing affects people in different ways. There are, though, some age-related trends that can affect participation in sport.

• Children need to develop gross motor skills from an early age to become confident movers.
• Adolescents experience a growth spurt that changes their physical development. This affects how they acquire skills and how they feel, ie confidence, self-esteem and body image.
• Women may experience a variety of changes during the menopause, such as weight-gain, aches, anxiety and loss of concentration. This may affect their self-confidence.
• Older people may experience weight-gain and decreasing flexibility and strength, and find it harder to recover from injury. They may lose confidence in their physical abilities.

As part of a healthy lifestyle, physical activity improves these experiences but people may need encouragement or different opportunities to help them to take part. See Sedentary lifestyles.

Some social factors are linked to physiological factors. For example:

• ageing may affect an individual's flexibility
• a disability may affect how someone performs a skill
• puberty affects girls' and boys' bodies differently and at different times

Social factors are interlinked. Everybody has an age, gender and ethnicity. Each of these may have a different influence in different situations.

It is important not to make assumptions about individuals based on social factors but to understand the influence of social factors on people. This can help to improve their participation in sport and physical activity. Understanding helps to create empathy, tackle inequality and promote inclusion.

In the UK, 1.9 million fewer women than men take part in sport each week. There is a significant drop in girls' participation from age 11. By age 14, boys are twice as active as girls.

All girls and women have their own reasons for taking or not taking part in physical activity. Research shows there are some common barriers to participation. Many girls and/or women:

• don't see the relevance of PE and sport to their lives
• think choices in PE and school sport are limited
• dislike taking part with boys or men who monopolise play or who play aggressively
• are more motivated by having fun, making friends and keeping fit than excelling
• feel judged and are therefore embarrassed by how they look
• have less spare time due to childcare and domestic responsibilities
• lack positive role models - locally and nationally
• see that women's sport usually has a lower status and gets less coverage in the media

Tackling these barriers will support more girls and women to take part in physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. This means consulting girls and women to find out what works for them.

Over half of people in black and minority ethnic (BME) communities do no sport or physical activity.

On average, all BME groups have lower participation rates than the national average.

One of the main reasons why BME communities have lower rates of participation is the lack of BME role models involved in leading and organising sport. For example:

• only 5% of coaches are from BME communities
• only 7% of sports professionals (other than performers) are from BME communities
• people from BME communities are 50% less likely to be sports volunteers than the general population

In some communities, the factors of ethnicity, religion and gender combine to have an even greater effect on participation. For example, 92% of South Asian women do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity compared to 55% of all women.

To tackle inequalities in sport, all aspects of sport need to be considered – leadership, management, coaching, officiating and volunteering – as well as actual participation.

There are around 11 million people in the UK who have a disability. This includes people with physical, visual and hearing impairments and people with learning difficulties. The participation of disabled people in sport is significantly lower than that of non-disabled people, for all age groups.

This is due to:

• physical barriers – for example, a lack of or the cost of adapted equipment
• logistical reasons – for example, a lack of transport or inappropriate communication
• psychological reasons – for example, lack of confidence, other people's attitudes

Many sports and physical activities do ensure inclusion of disabled people. Inclusion requires staff and volunteers to have a positive attitude, communicate effectively and be able to adapt activities.

People's economic status reflects their income – what they earn from work or investments – and their wealth – the land or property they own. Young people's economic status is usually determined by their parents' income and wealth. Socio-economic status recognises the fact that income and wealth influence people's education, occupation and other life experiences. For sports statistics, people are often classified by their employment status.

In the UK, managerial and professional people have the highest rates of participation in sport. Manual workers and unemployed people have the lowest rates. The greatest focus on socio-economic status in sport and physical activity relates to health. Health research links poorer health and wellbeing, including lower levels of physical activity, to lower economic status.

To increase people's levels of physical activity and improve both their health and wellbeing and their sporting opportunities, we need to take account of their economic status.

inofrmation taken from https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zp7wmnb/revision